Now in China, accused killer faces three judges — not one

IOWA CITY - When former University of Iowa student Xiangnan Li faces a homicide trial in his native China, he will be immersed in a criminal justice system that is at once peculiar and familiar to the system seen in the United States.

Three judges - not just one - will hear his case. Witnesses are not required to testify in order for evidence they have to be entered.

And the influences of corruption and politics in the Communist nation can play an outsize role in some outcomes.

'The judges are not as independent - corruption plays a bigger role in China,” said UI law professor John C. Reitz. 'And corruption isn't just a matter of money. If there are strong ties to the Communist Party, that can be better than money.”

Li was charged in China earlier this month with 'intentional homicide” in the death last fall of Iowa State University student Tong Shao, 20, who was his girlfriend.

Investigators said Li, believed to be about 23, fled to China before police found Shao's body Sept. 26 in the trunk of her car in Iowa City.

Police believe he suffocated Shao Sept. 7 and flew to China Sept. 8.

Johnson County Attorney Janet Lyness said her office issued an arrest warrant and authorized extradition. But complicating matters was that China doesn't have an extradition treaty with the United States.

'In China, because there is no treaty, they have no obligation to look for him,” she said,

The U.S. Department of Justice gave her another option - allowing China to pursue and prosecute him there.

'The only real official thing I had to do was send a letter to China, request they pursue him, and offer them to come to the United States and find out about our investigation,” Lyness said.

Chinese authorities took her up on that.

According to officials, Li surrendered there May 13. A group of Chinese detectives and prosecutors soon arrived to meet with Lyness and local police officials.

Li was charged June 19. It's unclear when he'll face trial.

Lyness said she learned - in working with Chinese authorities - that Li's father is a police officer within the prison system, raising red flags with her for the potential of corruption.

But, she said, her concern was eased because of the strength of the Chinese delegation - local, state and national officials - and the quality of their on-point questions.

'They put a lot of resources into this case … so I think they are taking it seriously,” she said. The Chinese authorities required Lyness' office to notarize its reports and documents in the case and receive an additional apostille, a document certifying the notary was in good standing.

UI professor Reitz said because the case appears to be a somewhat 'low-profile” homicide there - without political ramifications - he expects it to play out much like it would here, save some key differences.

First, he said, Chinese cases are heard by a panel of three appointed judges - not juries. The system also does not require witnesses to testify to evidence like in the United States. That's why Chinese authorities are not asking Iowa investigators be there.

Chinese authorities are not shy about issuing the death penalty, Reitz said, and prosecutors often use that to encourage suspects to confess.

'They don't torture witnesses, but they do put some pressure on them,” he said. 'The Chinese people know that there is a high likelihood of conviction if they're charged, and their only hope for leniency is to make a good confession and show repentance.”

Reitz said convictions in China are not necessarily a 'forgone conclusion.” But - unless the cases are politically sensitive - guilty verdicts are more likely.

'They all see themselves as being on the government's team - where the prosecution and judges work together,” he said.

If investigators say a suspect is guilty and have evidence to support that, Reitz said, the thought is that judges ought to believe them.

'Our judges have independence to question that,” he said. 'Chinese judges have less ability to question that.”

And mounting a vigorous defense can be challenging in China.

'It's a risky way to earn a living,” he said of defense lawyers there. 'If they do it in high-profile cases, they get leaned on by the government and the police and the prosecutors to not do very much.”